Rising tide of anti-AB5 Californians

Twenty-seven states have right-to-work laws that limit the power of labor unions. California isn’t among them, and that seems unlikely to change anytime soon.

However, the political landscape may unexpectedly be shifting now that Assembly

Bill 5, authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, DSan Diego, and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, has gone into effect.

AB5 makes it generally illegal for companies in California to hire independent contractors as part of their business. The aim of the bill was to push companies to put workers on the payroll and provide them with all the benefits and protections required by state employment laws, such as overtime, paid sick days and workers’ compensation benefits. AB5 was backed by big labor as a path to unionizing the gig-economy workforce. Only employees may join a union; independent contractors cannot be organized to bargain collectively.

But it’s more expensive, and for some businesses costprohibitive, to hire freelance workers as employees. Many companies sent letters to freelancers in California explaining that their services would no longer be required. Some businesses said they will continue to use freelancers, but no Californians need apply.

Enraged freelancers have rightly excoriated Gonzalez for destroying their livelihoods. Initially, Gonzalez responded to critics with profanity on Twitter, but recently she agreed to meet with freelancers and hear their concerns.

The political power of unions in Sacramento distorted the legislative process for AB5, resulting in a law that has seemingly random exemptions for some groups and industries, while others are left out in the cold.

The pain is real, and the unions are responsible for it. When union-sponsored legislation is wiping out the income of people who choose the flexibility and freedom of working as independent contractors, those people might be willing to look at right-towork laws that make it difficult for unions to stop nonunion workers from earning a living.

Right-to-work laws prohibit “closed shops” and make union membership voluntary. This tends to reduce union revenues, union political contributions and union political power.

A study by economist Christos Makridis found that workers reported an “increase in individual life satisfaction and economic sentiment” after their states adopted rightto-work laws. The study, published in the Journal of Law and Economics, used nearly a decade of data from daily Gallup polls and state economic records to measure worker satisfaction in six states — Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Missouri and Kentucky — that passed right-towork laws between 2012 and 2017.

Makridis wrote that the data suggest the improvements in sentiment are “concentrated among union workers” and may be the result of “an increase of competition among unions” that leads to higher-quality representation.

Not surprisingly, labor unions disagree with this view. The AFL-CIO says on its website, “The real purpose of right-to-work laws is to tilt the balance toward big corporations and further rig the system at the expense of working families. These laws make it harder for working people to form unions and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.”

Assembly Bill 5 was supposed to make it easier for working people to form unions and collectively bargain. Unfortunately for many Californians who are now without an income because of the law, the operation was a success, but the patient died.